Dot-matrix Printers

Epson is the winner, followed by TVSE and WeP, who are joint second. Lipi improves its score from an indexed score of 7seven last year to 15 this year, but not its overall position.

Before we get into the details of the segment, I am sure there is another question on your minds. Is the segment still alive, across verticals? Fifty seven percent of our respondents plan to buy DMPs. This is up from the 26 percent purchase intent last year. Even if we were to argue that a significant bit of this could be because of the buoyancy in the tech market, there is still enough life in this market. Coming to the verticals, all verticals, barring consultants, are a part of those who plan to buy DMPs in the near future.

Epson registers a high brand loyalty of 85 percent. All other brands are seeing a reduction in brand loyalty. TVSE has gone down from 85 percent to 55 percent, and WeP from 96 to 62 percent. An interesting point is that TVSE does better than Epson in the BFSI segment.

Last year we had said that there is a likely shift from all brands to WeP. This year, we are seeing a more diffused position, with shifts, mostly minor, happening across all brands. The net gainer this year could be Epson, who stands to gain from the brands that did not make it to the Club (63 percent). TVSE's gain from the same quarters is likely to be 13 percent. Lipi, who improved its position this year, could see shifts happening to brands that did not make it to the Club and to Epson, in that order. In total, Lipi could lose market share, as its gains are lesser than its losses. TVSE, on the other hand, would remain more or less where it was, with the possibility of a slight shift towards Epson.

This is a market that as yet cannot be written off, but it would be worth watching which way it would head if and when the current buoyancy were to wear off.

2003